Just Dive Right In!

I haven’t been keeping up with this as often as I should because I recently had A LOT going on within my life! I also wanted to be sure to make entries whenever I was inspired or when I learned something that should be shared. That being said, I REALLY encourage you to read and share this entry with anyone who is in transitional times within their lives. I am historically horrible at transitions as it takes me a while to adjust and I feel as if I’m scared of everything. Since I have experienced quite a few transitions as of late, I wanted to share what really helped me to get through them, or what I’m currently doing to ease the “pain” of change.

As many of you know, my company BHI was acquired by Kenexa (I call it an HR powerhouse). I was excited to be working for Kenexa as I’ve always wanted to gain experience with them, however most of their consultants are PhDs in the field, while I hold a Master’s degree. I never thought it would be possible to do what I’m doing now with this organization. During that time, it was scary. You don’t know if you have a job and if you do have a job, you don’t really know exactly what the role is. There were a ton of new people I’d have to work with and I was terrified to work with the head of assessment (which is my little HR niche) as he is pretty famous within my I/O realm. I really just wanted to do a good job and learn. I basically threw myself into cross-training of what BHI does and what Kenexa does, how it overlaps, where I see gaps and how I could be of value in helping. I tried to learn everything I could about the organization, products, procedures, etc. I also made it a point to really get to know my new coworkers (who are all amazingly competent and genuinely good people). I wanted to show that I wanted to do a good job and that I wanted to be part of the group. I’m now at a point of still learning, but the dust has settled and the ambiguity has subsided. I feel as if I am “moving on up” so to speak with it every day. 

Another transition that I’m currently going through is I recently made a professional dance team! I’m so very excited as it’s something I’ve wanted to do for most of my adolescent and adult life. I’ve auditioned it seems like 100 times just to be told no very early in the process made me feel as if I was never going to get to this point! What they don’t tell you is making the team is easy compared to meeting all the requirements for being on the team. It truly takes dedication to your art and you do it because you love doing it. When I found out the workout requirements and other requirements, I was terrified. Just like when I transitioned to Kenexa, I just wanted to do a good job. I kept having all of these scary thoughts about how maybe I couldn’t do it or wouldn’t be a good member.  I’m now required to go to boot camp 3 times a week and be exercising at least 6 days per week. The team also requires and understanding of how to present yourself to be the best representation of the organization from a physical standpoint, but also in the way you conduct yourself. I feel as if I am learning A LOT. I have also thrown myself into the process. I was scared and nervous, but I had to push that aside and JUST DO IT. 

Even though these two examples are vastly different, there is a common thread. Anything new is going to be scary. Everyone feels that way at some point or another. But letting that govern what opportunities you pursue really limits you and you may be giving up something you’d love because you’re too scared to try because of the possibility of failure. Failure sucks, but the best thing to do is learn from it and move on. The last audition that I was cut from was really difficult for me. I wasn’t sure if I could handle rejection like that again, but had I not tried just one more time, I wouldn’t have ever made my dream a reality. So my challenge to you is to DIVE IN to what you’re doing. Whether it is going to college, trying out for a team, interviewing for a new job, etc; JUST DO IT!